Engine-starting apparatus



March 4, 1930.- w. A. CHRYST I ENGINE STARTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 19, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet March 4, 1930. w. A. CHRYST ENGINE STARTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 19. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet v 30 substantial '50 position;

.. Patented Mar. 4, 1930 [U T D STATES PATENT O'FFIC f wiiQ iM A. m or DAYTON,

OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

DELCO-REMY CORPORATION, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE ENGINE-STARTING APPARATUS Application filed November 19, 1926. Serial No. 149,499.

This invention relates to apparatus for starting-Y internal combustion engines and particularly to the type of engine starting apparatus which comprises an electric motor,

means for connecting the motor with the engine and including a pinion movable into meshwith a gear connected with the engine 3 and'fprovisions whereby the pinion will be automatically demeshed from the engine gear. when the; engine becomes self-operative, and

manually operable meansfor causing the pinion to mesh withthe engine gear and for causing the motor to operate. I

f One ob'ect of the present invention is to i5 minimize wear and breakage'of the gear. teeth by providingmanually operable means of simple and economical construction for movp ing the pinion axiallyinto engagement with the engine gear and for rotating the pinion in case of gear tooth abutment in order that the pinionmay be nearly fully meshed with the engine gear before the motor is operated.

Afiurther obj ect'is to provide novel means for bringing the motor quickly to rest after 125' a starting operation has been performedin order that," when the engine makes a false start. andthe pinion is demeshed, the starting 7 operation may be repeated almost immediate "1y without requiring the operator to wait a period for the pinion to come to rest. I 'Anotherobject of the invention is to prevent entranceof dirt and other foreign substances into thehousing of the starting'apparatus through an opening in the housing,

' provided for receiving a manually operable with the en ine gear.

1 Further objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following description, "reference being had to the" accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of one form of the presentiinvention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: p

. V Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side 'viewpartly in a section of engine starting apparatus embody ing the present invention,- this view showing the apparatus in normal or non operating member which moves the pinion into mesh a pinion 24' which is helically broached so Fig. 2 is a sectional View of Fig. 1;

Fig.3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the apparatus after the pinion is nearly in full mesh with the engine gear and at the instant of closing the motor switch; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the apparatus after the pinion has been automaticallydemeshed from the engine gear and beforethe motor switch has been opened.

Referring to the drawings, 20 designates thehousing of an electric motor having an armature 21 mounted on a shaft 22, having a helically splined portion 23 which supports on the line 2-2 that it may be movable axially along the shaft 22 and be driven thereby. The shaft 22 is attached screw-threadedly to a shaft journal member 25having a flange 26 engageable with the pinion 24 and with a surface 27 provided by a housing 28 which is attached to the motor frame 20. The housing 28 provides a bearing 30 for the shaft journal 25. A plate 31, which is attached to the housing 28 by screws 32' separates the chamber within the housing from the space within the motor frame 20v and carries a bearing 33 for supporting an intermediate portion of the shaft 22. The right end of the shaft 22 as viewed in Fig. 1 is-supported by a bearing (not shown) carriedby an end frame (not shown) attached to the right hand end ofthe motor frame 20. I

As shown in Fig. 3', a portion of the housing-28 extends withinthe engine flywheel housing 35 which encloses an engine flywheel gear 36 with which the pinion 24 is adapted to mesh. The housing 28 is provided with an opening 37 for receiving a portion of the flywheel gear. The housing28 provides a cover for the opening through the flywheel housing 35' which receives a portion of the housing 28. The top Wall of the housing 28 is pro vided with an opening 39 for receiving a pedally operable lever 40 which cooperates with means to be described within the housing for moving the pinion into mesh with the'en'gine gear. The lever 40 is provided with a hub il which is located within the opening 39 which is supported by a stub shaft 42 having a head 43, a portion 44 of lesser.

of the lever 40 and portions 28*, 28 and 28" of the housing 28 are cylindrically machined coaXially withthe shaft 42, so that, as the member 50 turns with the lever, its outer cylindrical surface will fit snugly against the surfaces 28?, 28 and 28. As shown in Fig. 2 the member is provided with an inwardly extending annular flange 53 bearing upon the shaft portion 44 and confined between the shaft head 43 and a ring 54 spacing the lever hub 41 from the flange 53. The flange 53 tends to prevent entrance of dirt endwise of the shaft 42 into the opening 39. Thus "in the different positions of the lever (which willbe described later) the opening39 will besubstantially closed to prevent the entrance ofdirt and-other foreign substances into the housing-28. 3' Q 1 The lever is operated by a pedal passing through a cup shaped member 61 adapted to be attached to the floor board 62 of an automotive vehicle. A spring'63 tends to maintain the lever 40, and partsconnected therewith in normal ornon-operating position shown in Fig. 1. I

The motor is controlled by a switchcontained within a switch case 64 attached to the motor frame 20. The switch is closedby the downward movement of a switch plunger'65 from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The switch is normally maintained open by spring 66- located between the switch case and'a cap 67 attached to the plunger 65. The plunger is located in the path of movement of an extension, 68 of the lever 40. I j The lower arm of the lever 40 carries a stud 70 received by a helical slot 71 provided by a cylindrical sleeve 72. The end of the sleeve furthest fromthe pinion 24 or the righthand end as viewed in'Fig. 1 is1at-- tached to a disc 73 supported by a hub 74 slidable alongthe shaft 22'. The end of the sleeve 7 2 nearest the pinion 24 is dividedby slots 75 into resilient clutch elements 76 each provided with a conical surface 7 7 adapted to engage the internal conical surface 78 of a driven clutch element 7 9 attached to the pinion- 24. The hub 74 carries a plate 80 of such external diameter as to be normally, out of on gagement with theiclutch element? 6 when these elements are out of wedging engagement with the clutch 79. .By this construe- 40' to move clockwise tion the .driving clutch elements 76 adapt themselves to fit drivingly with the driven clutch 79. The plate 80 limits the amount of wedging betweenthe clutch elements so that,

unclutching may take place readily when the motor begins to operate. a

' The helical slot 71 in thesleeve 72 is variable in pitch or lead, the portion of smallest I lead normally receiving the stud 70 as shown in Fig.1. "This construction and arrange ment is desirable sothat, initially, the tendency of the sleeve to move endwise from non-operating position toward gear meshing position: is greater than the tendency to rotate.

vTo start the engine the operator will depressthe pedal 60, thereby icausing the lever shown inFig. lto the position shown'in Fig. 3. "The pin-70 will be moved longitudii nally of the sleeve 72 toicause the latterto move toward the leftLin the drawings so that V 4 from the position the'clutch members 76 will bemoved axially into engagement with the clutch surface 7 8' of the driven clutch'7 9. Following this, the

pinion 24 will be moved into engagement" with the enginegear 36'. lf motion-of the pinion 24 is not arrested by gear tooth abutment, pinion .24 will be moved'nearlyinto i fullmesh. with the engine gear with relatively little rotation of the sleeve 72 having taken place. Then the motor switch is closed-and;

the motor will thread the pinion'into full mesh with the enginegear and againsttthe stop flange 26. Following this, the pinion v V will rotatewiththe shaft 22'to crank the engine.

When the engine becomes:self operative, the pinion 24 will be automatically demeshedy from the engine gear 36." The shifting sleeve 72 and the pinion 24 will therefore be" 1 returned to the position shown in Fig. '4, although the operator should failto release thepedal 60. jVVhen pedal 60 is released,the

spring 63 will move thelever 40 from the position shown in Fig.4to that shown in Fig. 1, thereby causing thesleeve'72'to be rotated into thepositio'n shown in Fig. 1.

During the return of the pedal 60'the spring 66 will move theswitch plunger 651to' switch open position. r

In casethe teeth of the pinion '24 should abut the teeth of the gear 36 durin'g down ward motion of the pedal 60, the driving clutch members 76 will be wedged firmlyinto' engagement with the driven clutch 7 9 and.

the sleeve 72 will be rotated inorder to rotate the pinion 24 through the clutch elements so i that the pinion will be brought'into meshing registration with the gear 36.1 Asprev-iously described, the pinion will be moved nearly into full mesh with the enginegear before I the motor is operated. As the pinion is moved against the stop flange 26, the clutch i 7 element 79 will be disengaged-from the clutch rest :after. the pedal 60 p 91 and a non-rotatable I which extend through V 1 invention provides, a

' compact construction for bringing the motor quickly to rest after a starting operation has 7 move counter-clockwise and the plate 73 to be urged against the studs 93, thereby causing the stationary brake disc 92 to be urged toward the discs 91 and 90. Therefore this been performed,so' that, in case of a false fstart, the starting operation can "be repeated 7 almost immediately after the pedal has been clutch member 79. will slip driving, clutch member 76to released, without liability of damage to the teeth of the gearing. i

In case of back-fire. before the meshing operation has been completed, the driven relative to the of 'thepi'nion relativeto the sleeve 7 2.

While theform of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed,'constitutes a preferred form, it is to'be understood that with the other: forms might be adopted, all coming Within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed, is as follows:

' 1. Engine starting apparatus comprising,

a motor; means for connecting the motor the engine v whereby the pinionfwill be'automatically demeshed from the gear when the engine starts; axially into engagement with the gear and for rotating the pinion incase of gear tooth abutment, said means'includinga driven friction clutch member provided by thepinion, adrivingclutch member movable axially into engagement with the driven clutch mem-, her, a manually operable member movable longitudinally of the axis of the clutch menibers, and elements" providing a pin-and-slot connection between the manually operable member and the'drivingclutch member, the slot being oblique to thekaxis of the clutch members.

2. Engine starting apparatus according to I claim 1 in which the driving clutch member is provided by an axially movable sleeve,

and the sleeve is provided with a helical slot receiving a pin carried by the manually operable member.

Engine starting apparatus according to claim 1 in which the clutch membershave "conical surfaces which wedgingly cooperate,

one or more studs 93 brake of simple and conical clutch slotted permit rotation 7 gear of an engine tobe started and including a pinion slidable into mesh with.

and means for moving the pinion wedge the driving clutch member into drivi-ngengagement with the driven clutch member. r

i '5. Engine starting apparatus according to claim 1, in which the driven clutch has a surface, and in which the driving clutchis provided by a sleevehaving its end which is furthest from the driven clutch fixed to a hub which is axially'slidable, and having its end which is adjacent the driven to provide a plurality of resilient clutch elements each having a conical clutch surface adapted to engage'the conical surface of the driven clutch.

6. Engine startingapparatus comprising, a motor, a shaft operated thereby, a bearing supporting the shaft intermediate its ends, a bearing supporting wallfa brake disc attached to the shaft beyond one side of the wall, a second brake disc located between the walland first brake disc, a' pinion located beyond the other side of said Wall and drivingly connected with the shaft and movable away from said wall into engagement with the'gear of'an engine to be started, a member located between the pinion and wall for ,movmg the pinion, and a'member extending gear and including provisions the motor; means for connecting the shaft" with the gear of an engine to be started and including a pinion mounted on the shaft for longitudinal movement thereof and rotary movement therewith and provisions whereby the pinion will :be automatically demeshed from the engine gear when the engine starts; and manually operable means for shifting the pinion endwiseinto mesh with the engine gear and for rotating the pinionin case the pinion teeth collide with the engine gear teeth, said means including two members movable along the shaft, one of said membersbeing rotatable and'ha'ving. a part 10- 125 cated obliqueto the direction of bodily motion of said members and engaged by the other member whereby the rotatable, manually operable member maybe rotated bythe other member whenmoved along the shaft,

and a friction clutch for connecting. the rotatable memberwith the pinion- 8. An engine starterdrive' comprising; in

combination, a rotatable drive connecting member movable axially into driving relation with arotatable part of the engineto-be started; automatic means for disconnecting the drive connecting member from the engine part when. the engine starts; and a manually operable device for moving the drive connecting member into driving engagement 7 with the engine part; said device including two members. one of which is rotatable coaxially ofthe 'drive connecting member,a:'

friction clutch for connecting the drive connecting member with: the rotatable manual- 7 ly operable member, and means'for connecting'the manually operable members for endwise movement together, movement of. one member relative tothe orso that endwise when the rotatable'element is moved axially 1 by the other manually operable element,uthe rotatable elementtends to rotateyand means i tendinginitially to resist rotation of the rotatable-manually operable element.

In testimony whereof Irher'eto' aflix my signature.

other will eiiect rotation of the rotatable,

manually operable member.

' 9. An engine starter drive comprising; in I combination, a rotatable drive connecting member-movable axially into driving relation with a rotatablei'part of thevengine to be started; automatic means for disconnect ing the drive connecting member from the when the engine starts ;'and aengine part manually operable device formoving? the drive connecting member into driving engagement with the eng1nepart5-sai'd device including a member rotatable coaxially of the drive connecting member and movable axially into engagement with the drive con necting member, a friction clutch for rotatively connecting said members, ly operable part movable along'the rotatable, manually operable member, and means for connecting the manually operable part I and member so that they may moveitogether and so that, in caseaxial movement ofithe rotatable manually operable member. arrested, further movement 'ofi the; manually operable part will effect rotation oil-the manually operable member, V 1 10. An enginestarter drive comprising in a rotatable drive connecting combination,

- member movable. axially into driving relation with a rotatablepart oftheengine-toibestarted; automatic means for disconnectinga manual the drive connecting memberifrom the engine 9 v 7 part when theengine starts ;Iand a manually voperable device for moving therdrive connecting member into driving engagement with the engine part; said device includingi two elements adapted toi move in the direc-' 1y of the drive ILLIAM oHRYsT. j 

